Attractiveness in Males & Females

Determinants of male physical attractiveness

Facial features

Women and gay men prefer faces with masculine traits associated with increased testosterone, such as heavy brows, wide jaws, and broad cheekbones. These are suggested to be a reliable indication of good health, or, alternatively, that dominant- and masculine-looking males are more likely to achieve high status. However, the correlation between attractive facial features and health has been questioned. Also, females tend to prefer different facial traits in short-term and long-term partners, and sociocultural factors, such as self-perceived attractiveness, status in a relationship and degree of gender-conformity, have been reported to play a role in female preferences for male faces.

Symmetry

Symmetrical faces and bodies may be signs of good inheritance to women of child-bearing age seeking to create healthy offspring. Some studies suggested that women at peak fertility were more likely to fantasize about men with greater symmetry. Studies suggest women are more attracted to men with symmetrical features, and noticed correlations between symmetry and other variables typically associated with masculinity, such as greater height, broader shoulders, and smaller hip-to-waist ratios. Facial and body symmetry may indicate good health, which is a desirable feature. The symmetrical nature of a male partner may be a variable influencing whether a woman, during sexual intercourse, is able to achieve an orgasm.

V-shaped torso and muscularity

The mesomorphic physique of a slim waist, broad shoulders and muscular chest are often found to be attractive. A near-universal sexually attractive feature of a man is a v-shaped torso: a relatively narrow waist offset with broad shoulders. While some cultures prefer their males huskier and others leaner, the rule of a v-shaped torso generally holds true. Consistently, men with a waist-to-shoulder ratio of 0.75 or lower are viewed as considerably more attractive than men with more even waists and shoulders. A degree of hirsuteness and a waist-to-shoulder ratio of 0.6 is often preferred, when combined with a mesomorphic physique.

Height and erect posture

Females’ sexual attraction towards males is sometimes partly determined by the height of the man. Height in men is associated with status in many cultures, which is beneficial to women romantically involved with them. This preference may have been passed on genetically. As a corollary, shorter men may be viewed as less attractive, all other things being equal, for casual and intended long-term relationships.

Additionally, women seem more receptive to an erect posture than men, though both prefer it as an element of beauty; this fact appears correlated to the preference for males who demonstrate confidence, physical strength, and a powerful bearing. women are most attracted to men who are 1.1 times their own height. women are statistically more likely to be attracted to men of average height when looking for long-term commitment, while the opposite is true when a short-term relationship is intended. women may have these different preferences for height depending on the phase of their menstrual cycle at the time. While women usually desire men to be at least the same height as themselves or taller, several other factors also determine male attractiveness, and the male-taller norm is not universal.

Hairiness

Studies based in California, New Zealand, and China have shown that women rate men with no body hair as most attractive, and that attractiveness ratings decline as hirsutism increases. Another study found a moderate amount of trunk hair was most attractive, to the sample of British and Sri Lankan women.

Variability in preferences

It has been shown that women prefer more masculine men during the fertile period of the menstrual cycle and more feminine men during other parts of the cycle. This distinction supports the sexy son hypothesis, which posits that it is evolutionarily advantageous for women to select potential fathers who are traditionally masculine rather than the best caregivers. Masculine facial features are characterized by a prominent chin, strong brow, a strong nose, pronounced mouth and lips, a high forehead and a prominent lower jaw whereas feminine features are less pronounced. According to one study, men with facial scars are more attractive to Western women seeking short-term relationships; this may be due to the perception that facial scars are a symbol of high testosterone and masculinity.

Long legs

One study suggested women prefer men with longer legs. Attractiveness of men of similar height but with different lengths of their legs found to be more attractive. longer legs were not only an aesthetic feature but indicated good health.

Determinants of female physical attractiveness

Features such as a symmetrical face, full lips, and low waist-hip ratio are commonly considered physically attractive when part of a female, because they are thought to indicate physical health and high fertility to a potential mate. The determinants of female physical attractiveness include those aspects that display health and fitness for reproduction and sustenance. These include correlates of fertility such as youth, waist-hip ratio, breast size, breast symmetry, body mass proportion and facial symmetry. Though it has been said that facial attractiveness and symmetry signal good health, it has been questioned and said not to be highly related to good health.

Facial alignment

The ideal attractive female face featured “eye width that is three-tenths the width of the face at the eyes’ level; chin length, one-fifth the height of the face; distance from the center of the eye to the bottom of the eyebrow, one-tenth the height of the face; the height of the visible eyeball, one-fourteenth the height of the face; the width of the pupil, one-fourteenth the distance between the cheekbones; and the total area for the nose, less than 5 percent of the area of the face.” Very small differences mattered; for example, “the ideal mouth was half or 50 percent the width of the face at mouth level; if that percentage varied “by as little at 10 points,” the face was rated as less attractive. ” Desired traits were large female eyes, small chin and nose, and these “infantlike features draw out in them the same caretaking response a baby would–they make a woman seem cute and adorable.” Further, high wide cheekbones and narrow cheeks are “signs that a woman has reached puberty” and “high eyebrows, dilated pupils and wide smile” signal excitement and sociability.

Signals of youth

Because female fecundity typically declines after the late twenties, youth is an important aspect of physical attractiveness. Men desire, on average, a woman 2.5 years younger than themselves for a wife, with men in African countries at the far extreme, desiring their wives to be 6.5 to 7.5 years younger. As men age, they also desire a larger age gap from their mates. High, firm breasts, fair or long and lustrous hair (or a combination of the three), full red lips, clear smooth skin, and clear eyes, are viewed as attractive in women.

Breast size

Full breasts may be attractive to men in Western societies because women with higher breast to under-breast ratios typically have higher levels of the sex hormone, estradiol, which promotes fertility. Larger breasts also display the aging process more noticeably, hence they are a relatively reliable indicator of long-term fertility.

Proportion of body mass to body structure

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is another important universal determinant to the perception of beauty. The BMI refers to the proportion of the body mass to the body structure. However, the optimal body proportion is interpreted differently in various cultures. The Western ideal considers a slim and slender body mass as optimal while many historic cultures consider an embonpoint or plump body-mass as appealing. Men do not appear to have evolved to hold a particular build as more attractive, but rather to be drawn to whichever build associates with social status.

The attraction for a proportionate body also influences an appeal for erect posture.

Waist-hip ratio

Notwithstanding wide cultural differences in preferences for female build, Women with a 0.7 WHR (waist circumference that is 70% of the hip circumference) are usually rated as more attractive by men from European cultures. Such diverse beauty icons as Jessica Alba, Marilyn Monroe, Salma Hayek, Sophia Loren, and the Venus de Milo all have ratios around 0.7. In other cultures, preferences vary, ranging from 0.6 in China, to 0.8 or 0.9 in parts of South America and Africa, and divergent preferences based on ethnicity, rather than nationality, have also been noted. The hourglass shape characterized by a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7 has been described as attractive.

BWH

BWH is an abbreviation of “bust, waist, and hip measurement” and, like waist-hip ratio, it is referred to in popular culture as an indicator of (female) attractiveness. A commonly referred-to “ideal” set of BWH measurements is 36-24-36 (i.e. an hourglass shape.)

Height

Most men exhibit a preference for females of shorter physical stature than themselves. Women .7 to 1.7 standard deviations below the mean in height have been reported to be the most reproductively successful. One explanation for this observation is that since most men demonstrate a preference for women shorter than themselves, being shorter allows a woman access to a larger potential dating pool. However, in some non-Western cultures, height is irrelevant in choosing a mate; this indicates that the Western tendency for men to prefer women shorter than themselves is sociocultural in nature.